The average American gains between 4 and 7 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is a scary statistic. Parties, family gatherings, stress, alcohol and fatigue are all to blame. The good news is that it doesn't have to be this way. Here are a few tips for keeping slim this holiday season:

In a startling study, Dr. Gewirtz at Cornell University showed that the weight of mice could be changed by over 15 percent just by shifting their intestinal bacteria. Along with weight changes, the bacteria present changed the mice's chemistry in ways that could predict heart disease, high blood pressure and risks for diabetes.

The imagery of the giant, brutish, King-Kong-like black man threatening our cities is far from new. Currently it seems to be intersecting dangerously with another popular rhetorical image: the obese person who is responsible for his own frail, unworthy body. This intersection was especially on display in Eric Garner's case.

Manipulating the food environment can be a great tool for effortlessly improving people's eating habits, but this analysis suggests cafeterias should await further proof before they overhaul the dishware.

If instead, we treated obesity more like drowning, we would tell the truth about food. We would not market multicolored marshmallows to children as part of a complete breakfast. We would not willfully mislead about the perilous currents in the modern food supply. We would not look on passively as an entire population of non-swimmers started wading in over their heads.

By 2050, the world's population will reach 9 billion -- and all will need nutritious diets. Yet despite the intrinsic relationship between the food we grow and the food we eat, the agriculture and nutrition sectors are only just now beginning to overcome decades of mutual isolation.